I fully expected the fried calamari ($8.99) that arrived at our table to be rubbery, the result of a frozen, commercial product. We were pleasantly surprised by its crispy and light outside texture, tender meat and the addictive flavor of the sauces on the side, sun-dried tomato aioli and marinara sauce.

Dinners may only be offered on weekends, but the scrumptious flavors of some of the dishes, like the patron favorite Balsamic Glazed Beef Tenderloin ($14.99), indicate chef Phil White means business.

I also had been impressed by the fork-tender meat of the braised short ribs of beef ($13.99), a seasonal special, on an earlier visit. The ribs, braised for four hours in beef broth and soy sauce, glistened from a teriyaki sauce that had been brushed on top to form a glaze. The glaze added a salty and crusty touch to the comfort food.

My family stopped by on a Friday evening at about 7 p.m. Monaco Bay may be a bar, but I couldn't resist exposing my 9-year-old twins to the live music there. They also were interested because of all the talk of "American Idol" contestant Matt Giraud, who has played piano at Monaco Bay.

We were first seated at a table that didn't give us a full view of the piano players, so we opted for one of the long rail counters where we sat side by side, all facing the players. Ordering was hectic because it was hard to communicate to the server over the din of the music, but once that was taken care of, things smoothed out.

Ear plugs allowed the girls to have a good time without being blasted out of there as the musicians truly pump up the volume. And since there was no smoking before 9 p.m., we could eat without worrying about that. We struck up a conversation with a couple beside us who were out for a date leaving the children at home with a baby sitter.

Monaco Bay Piano Bar & Grille in downtown Kalamazoo has a full bar and a variety of menu items. Shown here is the calamari.

We thought up song requests while waiting for food and donated $1 to the musicians for each request. I suggested songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and Stevie Wonder.

The Wonder request inspired piano player Rhonda Hughes to perform medleys of the songs of Wonder and Aretha Franklin. My daughter Ava made a request for The Commodore's "Brick House" -- we play lots of '70s music at home -- and piano player Ryan Griffin played it in the style of a lounge singer. After all, it was the dinner hour, he said to patrons.

We enjoyed the Chicken Pesto ($9.99) -- consisting of grilled chicken topped with a pesto sauce, bacon and mozzarella cheese -- but also the crab-stuffed salmon ($16.99). I tried the Downtowner burger ($9.99) and the girls were all over the french fries with the order. The salt on the fries tasted better than average, they said.